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September 17, 2011

Flavian Kippel manages and runs all by himself one of the smallest banks in Switzerland, the Spar und Leihkasse in the village of Leuk, in the southwest. Since the start of the global financial crisis, when Lehman Brothers went bust, more and more clients have been entrusting him with their savings. (SF/swissinfo

Please go to this interesting link to read more the http://barnard.edu/arx/html/hinduismhere/pankaj.html

Rajiv Malhotra has termed it as the U-Turn Theory. According to this theory[16]: "Appropriation occurs in the following five stages:

1. Student/Disciple: In the first stage, the Westerner is loyal to the Indic traditions, and writes with the deepest respect. Many such scholars have genuinely tried and aspired to give up their Western identities and adopt Hinduism/Buddhism very sincerely. In many instances, India has helped the person to "find" himself/herself. A large number of scholars remain in this stage for life, while others move on to subsequent stages, not necessarily in the exact sequence below.

2. Neutral/New Age/Perennial Repackaging: In this stage, Indic traditions are repackaged as "original" discoveries by the scholar, or relocated by interpolating within obscure Greek, Christian or other "Western" texts, or assumed to be generic thoughts found in all cultures. In many instances, this is the scholar's personal brand management to expand the market for the books, tapes and seminars, by distancing oneself from the negative brands of the "caste, cows and curry" traditions.

3. Hero's return to his/her original tradition: Once the ego takes over and the scholar's native identity reasserts itself, he/she returns to the Eurocentric tradition, typically Judaism or Christianity, with bounties of knowledge to enrich it. Alternatively,the scholar repackages the material in secular vernacular, such as"Western psychology" or "phenomenology" or a "scientific" framework.Now the sales mushroom, as the Western audiences congratulate themselves for their culture's sophistication. In some cases, this happens to Indians also who reject their Indian identity after gaining enough mileage out of Indic sources.

4. Denigrating the source: In this stage, into which only some scholars proceed intentionally, they denigrate the source Indic traditions. It furthers their claims of "originality" and absolves them from links to denigrated traditions. In some instance, stages 3 and 4 are in reverse sequence.[17]

5. Mobilizing the sepoys and becharis: This is the phenomenon whereby Indians become proxies for Western sponsors. Bechari is typically an Indian woman who perpetuates the idea that the Indian traditions are oppressive of women and only the Western feminism areliberating, so as to get some kind of recognition or gain in the West.These gains could be in the form of jobs, recognition as a scholar, invitation to conferences etc. The perpetuation of 'becharihood' ofIndian women is used as a justification for 'white woman's burden'.The sepoys also push the Eurocentric agenda and fight against thenatives, just like British hirelings did in 1857. They are the resultof the Lord McCauley's agenda of "producing Indians with Western waysof thinking." Often they claim to be championing the subaltern causes, using this stage to gain recognition in the West. Becharis and sepoystend to prove native cultures as the social criminal. This legitimizesthe subversion of native culture in the name of human rights and hence becomes the civilizing mission for Western powers.

We have said it before many time and we are saying it here again to Obama Administration that as long as Pakistan exists it will not let Afghanistan to be a stable democracticcountry, because a stable democratic Afghanistan is a big threat to extremist Pakistan. So they will not let that happen at any cost. Pakistan will continue to train and arm Taliban and Al-Qaida and send them as suicide bombers to destabilize Afghanistan and India. A country based and created on an extremist Islamic Ideology will not feel safe and secure by being surrounded by Democratic Countries (Afghanistan and India).

So, what is the Solution??

Balkanization of Pakistan on Ethnic, Linguistic lines with Creation of a Greater Independent Secular Balochistan and Establishment of permanent American military bases in Gwadar (Balochistan) to keep the entire region in Check (South Asia and Middle East). We Baloch are ready to help US to secure a Stable South Asia and Middle East, a Stable Democratic Afghanistan, keep China off of Persian Gulf and keep Iran in Check.

We have spent billions American Tax Payer's dollars in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars and in military aid to Pakistan with no outcome. It is time theBaloch people be given a chance. We can make things happen faster with less money spent.

The Arab Spring in Middle East is unpredictable but what is predictable and sure is that Secular Baloch will always remain on US side against Pakistani-Iranian extremists and against Taliban and Al-Qaida terrorists whether US helps us or not. We will remain committed to our Secular Traditions and ideology no matter what.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Islamabad said in remarks broadcast Saturday that there is evidence linking the Haqqani insurgent network to the Pakistani government, a charge that could raise tensions in an already strained anti-terror alliance between Washington and Islamabad.

The U.S. and NATO blame the Haqqani network for many of the attacks in Afghanistan, including this week's strike on the U.S. Embassy. The group — affiliated with both the Taliban and al-Qaida — and its army of several thousand fighters is widely assumed to be based just over the Afghan border in Pakistan.

U.S. officials have long suspected links between the Pakistan military and the Haqqani network.

But needing Pakistani cooperation to beat al-Qaida and stabilize Afghanistan, they rarely say so publicly and as directly as Ambassador Cameron Munter did in an interview with Radio Pakistan that was broadcast Saturday.

"The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago that was the work of the Haqqani Network," Munter said during the interview. "And the facts, that we have said in the past, (is) that there are problems, there is evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop."

Pressed for what evidence the U.S. had linking Haqqani to the embassy assault, Munter said, "Well, it's just we believe that to be the case."

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman declined to comment until she had heard the interview.

The Pakistani army has resisted attacking North Waziristan and the Haqqanis because it believes the group does not pose a direct threat to the country. The army is engaged in a bloody fight elsewhere in the tribal region against militants that have responded with hundreds of suicide bombs around the country in recent years.

Officers say that making enemies of the Haqqanis now could tip the country into even greater turmoil.

Experts say U.S. plans to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014 and its current efforts to seek peace with the Afghan Taliban make it even less likely that Pakistan will act anytime soon.

The army also believes it will be able to use the group, with which it has ties going back to the U.S.-backed resistance against Soviet rule in Afghanistan, to ensure its archenemy India does not gain a foothold there once the American troops leave.

In a statement Friday at a NATO meeting in Spain, Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani appeared to allude to that, saying Pakistan had a "sovereign right to formulate policy in accordance with

its national interests and the wishes of the Pakistani people."

American is under pressure to show success in Afghanistan ahead of its planned troop withdrawal in 2014, and has been pressing the Pakistani military to act against the Haqqani network for at least two years, without success. The attack on the Kabul embassy by a team of assailants exposed further tensions in a relationship still foundering following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed frustration with Pakistani inaction against the insurgent network and issued what was construed here as a veiled warning that Washington may take unilateral action against the militants. The Foreign Ministry said his remarks were "out of line" with the two nations' anti-terror cooperation.

“You know, I am also an engineer” he said to me , looking up from my bio-data , somewhat to my surprise. He was Turgut Ozal , president of the republic of Turkey , to whom I had just presented my letters of credence ( September ,1992) and along with foreign minister Hikmet Cetin ,I had just set down for the customary audience. This meeting lasted for nearly 50 minutes , with Hikmet Bay mostly a silent listener. When we emerged , a worried looking chief of protocol pacing up and down told me that normally such talks lasted 20 minutes or so.

Curiously three of the most powerful and durable leaders since the 1960s coup until the unexpected triumph and takeover of Turkey in end 2002 by Riyadh financed Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP) under Recep Tayep Erdogan ,were all contemporaries at Istanbul’s Technical University and had known each other .The other two being; Sueleyman Demirel , the eldest and seven times prime minister and the president and Nacamattin Erbakan , who when refused a ticket for elections in mid-1960s by Demirel founded his own political party and injected Islam into Turkish politics. Erbakan became the first ever Islamist prime minister to head a coalition in 1996 , a post he wasasked to vacate by the military for promoting religion in politics .Erbakan’s proteges , Abdullah Gul and Edogan are now entrenched as the president and prime minister respectively at the head of a secular republic with help from yesil surmaye ( green money ) from Saudi Arabia . Gul had worked at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah for 7 years before returning to join hands with Erbakan in 1991.

Ozal took advantage of knowing Demirel , who when prime minister in 1960s and 70s helped the former into key bureaucratic appointments including as his Under Secretary until the 1980 military takeover .After the 1971 half coup which forced Demirel to resign, Ozal left Turkey andstudied in USA , worked in private and state sector , an experience which led to his being appointed as deputy PM in charge of economy when the military took over power in 1980 .Leaving Demirel behind , a cause of some heartburn, Ozal surpassed his mentor ,established his own party ,True Path party (DYP), won elections in 1983 and became PM (President Gen Kenan Evren and other generals would have preferred a party they had supported). Ozal then got himself elected as a civilian president , a first since 1960 in 1989 even though his party’s popularity was declining .

There were reasons for my long audience with Turgut Ozal .I had first met with him at a dinner at the Indian embassy in 1971 , when he was head of the state planning department and then in 1986 during his visit to India as prime minister. While awaiting dates for the ceremony I had been to our Consulate General in Izmir in west Turkey for the annual trade fair and had flown to our Consulate General in Istanbul for the independence day celebrations ; again revisiting unmatched museums, bazaars , historic mosques and Palaces in Istanbul, my most favourite foreign city ,laid across a spectacular Bosporus separating Asia and Europe .

And on way to and back by car from Izmir, the old Smyrna, Homer's birth place (where Aristotle Onasis too lived) I marvelled anew at nearby richest architectural site of Ephesus, the Carian city of St Paul's church, Virgin Mary is believed to be buried nearby (Scylax, from whose navigation of Indus for Persian Emperor Darius, the West knew first of India, was from Caryanda, also a Carian city); Priene, the spectacular Ionian city, whose oracle along with neighbouring Didim's was as well known as Delphi's.And ofcourse ,one of my favourite sites ,Miletus of 6th century BC, of the first thinkers;Thales, Anneximender, Anneximenes, spiritual forefathers of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, where the roots of Greek and Western philosophy germinated.And of course near capital city Ankara itself , the Phyrigian Gordion (of its Knot and oracle fame ), of King Midas of the golden touch, Sardis, the Lydian capital and Persian Acheamenean Empire's outpost in Asia Minor of King Croceaus .

While Turkey’s economic and industrial progress when Ozal was prime minister had been admired and documented in international media, I was pleasantly surprised at the tremendous strides in agriculture and forestation .During my first tenure (1969-73) one had to drive a good 50/60 kilometers from Ankara to find a shady shrub growth for a summer picnic outing ,but by 1992 , new highways were well lined with trees and grass . During winters in Ankara , the only vegetables available were potatoes , onions, cabbage and if you rubbed something dusty ,you guessed it might be carrots .And green chilies were sold like gold .Now, most vegetables including brinjals ,tomatoes, peas, beans , cucumbers ,okras and others were readily available year round ,cultivated down south in Antalya , Izmir and elsewhere where the Sun shines brightly in winters, under plastic hot house cultivation. And also attracting millions of tourists during winter months too on Turkish Rivera along the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas littered with ancient monuments and antiquities from Turkey’s forty civilisations.

So after Ozal had mentally checked the dates of my meetings with him earlier , I told him about the transformation in Turkey since my last posting .He was very pleased since he was credited with lifting the Turks by boot straps and putting them into an industrial age .When Iranian president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani visited Ankara in early 1993, he joked with Ozal that during his bus travel from Iranian border to Ankara in later 1970s , he got a dozen offers for his transistor radio. Ozal proudly gifted him with Turkish made music systems, TVs, video players. I remember buying terrylene shirts, mixies and even stationary from Beirut while flying from India to Ankara during 1969-73.

A relaxed Ozal asked me to report to him after my visits around Turkey .(Alas he passed away early next year and was replaced by Suleiman Demirel.) But Ozal was surprised that I had not visited Turkey since 1973 even though I had been posted nearby at Amman and Bucharest .I replied that I had wanted a longer stay in Turkey and not just a fleeting visit .I am sure his press advisor Kaya Toperi ,a good friend since he was counselor in New Delhi in mid 1960s must have informed him that my posting to Ankara which all my past friends were waiting for in 1988 was cancelled at the behest of a feudal Thakur hating Jat politician bad mouthing me to Rajiv Gandhi for reasons best known to him (there were some dark allegations connected to his erratic behavior in London.)

Coming from a conservative and religious family of average means in Malatya in central east Turkey ,away from Istanbul and Ankara, Ozal rose from the periphery of the Turkish society to high echelons of public and private power in 1960s and 1970s and finally the presidency in 1989 .His conservative Islamist roots are evident because in 1970s he tried to enterpolitics as a candidate of Erbakan’s National Salvation Party (the MSP) but did not win .But his Islamist outlook subsequently proved to be an advantage in his search for broad-based public support as a political leader.

While he would walk hand in hand with wife Semra or publicly sip wine , he said that a human being needed some spiritual support and solace in this life .Not for him the dry anti- religious Jacobin crusade against Islam of Republican Peoples party (RPP).

Ozal was a statesman with great vision and drive .In a single decade by combing in himself the role of a technocrat and a reformist politician ,he organised Turkey’s swift recovery from the deep economic crisis of late 1970s by enhancing the credibility of the stabilization-cum-structural adjustment program because of his unusually diverse background in economic bureaucracy, private business and international organizations by garnering support from international institutions like the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank.

Ozal would jokingly relate how he would wear layers of stockings for his wife when returning from USA in 1970s .With hard currency shortage Ankara could not afford to import coffee , home of Turkish coffee, so the first thing he did when he got power in 1980 was toallow limited import of coffee ostensibly for the tourists .

By end 1996 Turkish economy had advanced enough to enter into a Customs Union Agreement with the Europe Union - ie, exports and imports are not subject to duties. Turkey soon captured the white-goods market in the EU.

There were however some negative aspects of Ozal’s fast economic transformation. This was because of a tendency to underestimate the importance of the rule of law and the need to develop a strong legal infrastructure for a well-functioning market economy. Ozal’s preference was for rule by decrees, hence bypassing normal parliamentary procedures and constraints. His vision was some what typical presidential characterized by the absence of checks and balances and grant of enormous powers to key individuals. While this is useful in terms of the ability to undertake decisions rapidly and overcome powerful interest group pressures, it undermines longer-term viability of the process. Indeed, the origins of the significant increase in corruption in the Turkish economy during the course of the 1990s might be considered as a direct result of the Ozal era of the 1980s, specially the failure to penalize the misuse of export subsidies during the mid- 1980s. It had a rather devastating consequences later on .

Ozal and Turkey’s Kurdish Problem

Ozal also tried to resolve Turkey’s serious problem with its Kurds, who form 20% of the population and are concentrated in south east, north of Iraqi Kurdistan . A rebellion since 1984 against the Turkish state led by now imprisoned Abdullah Ocalan of the Marxist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has cost nearly 40,000 lives, including 5,000 soldiers. To control and neutralize the rebellion, thousands of Kurdish villages have been bombed, destroyed, abandoned or relocated; millions of Kurds have been moved to shanty towns in the south and east or migrated westwards. The economy of the region remains shattered. A third of the Turkish army remains tied up in the southeast, the cost of countering the insurgency at its height amounted to between $6 billion to $8 billion a year.

The rebellion died down after the arrest in Kenya and trial of Ocalan in 1999, but has not been eradicated. It erupts from time to time .Recently tens of Turkish soldiers were killed in south east Turkey by PKK raising the ante . But most of the PKK cadre is now ensconced in north Iraq mountains. Sources in Kurdish nationalist circles indicate that Washington is letting them there to be used as pawns against Ankara. Ocalan was used by Syria , where he was resident ,before under Turkish threats ,he was expelled in 1999 and also by Greeks and other European states to extract concessions from Ankara. This is realpolitik!

Basically the British as in many other countries are responsible for creating the Kurdish problem. They had occupied oil rich Kirkuk now in Iraqi Kurdistan in the wake of WWI in spite of a ceasefire .London then helped and organised ethnic and religion based insurgencies and conspiracies against the new secular Turkish republic in its south east.So Kemal Ataturk ,founder of the state ,to concentrate on building his nascent nation, who had talked of various ethnicities and people in the Turkey including Kurds opted for a unitary state of Turks . Kurdish rebellions in Turkey were ruthlessly suppressed .The word Kurd was banished and disenfranchised .Kurds had to call themselves mountain Turks . In mid 1980s a minister in Ankara was charged when he said that he was a Kurd .The Turks manifest a pervasive distrust of autonomy or models of a federal state for Iraqi Kurds as it would affect and encourage the aspirations of their own Kurds.

To tackle this Gordian Knot like problem, Ozal , who had Kurdish blood declared his ancestry publicly and used the word Kurd in mid 1980s. However, before he could take any further measures to heal the wounds and suspicions , he died suddenly .His wife claimed that he was poisoned .Many nationalist Kurds too allege that he was a victim of a conspiracy by vested interests in continuing the rebellion.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union ,Washington US wanted Turkey to be promoted as a model for Central Asia's newly independent states and to reach out to ethnic Turkic central Asian republics (CARs) recently freed from Moscow’s domination , willingly or unwillingly to counter Iran’s influence. But provided little financial help .Summits held to bring CARs closer to Ankara did not achieve much . But Turks have invested in CARs and provided administrative personnel , teachers , scholarships and other educational and cultural facilities .But the new Turkic presidents wanted to keep all options open .Most wanted to follow the Chinese model but have not succeeded in the economic advancement. Perhaps if Ozal had lived , he might have done something dramatic.

India –TurkishRelations ; Turgut takes the initiative

In the mid-1980s, when prime minister ,Ozal was flying back from the East .During a transit halt at the Indian metropolis of Bombay, now known as Mumbai, he was very much taken by the drive and bustle along glittering Marine Drive, which in many ways reminds Turks of their Istanbul on the Bosporus. Ozal was also impressed with Maharashtra’s young and intelligent protocol minister .

Before emplaning for Ankara, Ozal told his ambassador, "Perhaps we have neglected this country." (Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to Ankara in 1960 had been the first and last by an Indian prime minister to Turkey) At the subsequent United Nations General Assembly session in New York, Ozal and Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, both leaders with a modern outlook, met and took a liking for each other . Ozal was duly invited to India, an offer that he took up the following year, 1986. Thus high-level exchanges were renewed between India and Turkey, two secular republics with much in common.

Rajiv visited Turkey in 1988 .To give a start to industrial and economic cooperation ,Ozal awarded a railway electrification project to Indian RITES with price to be settled bilaterally (During my tenure -1992-96 ,after the completion of the project, an extension was also won by India )

History of Indian-Turkish relationsAfter its independence in 1947, India found Turkey on the other side of the Cold War divide, so there were few exchanges between them. Indian minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad did visit Ankara in the 1950s, and signed agreements on educational, cultural and scientific cooperation. Nehru's visit in 1960 turned out to be ill-timed because a few days later the government of prime minister Adnan Menderes was overthrown by the Turkish armed forces. Nehru had insisted and met with Ismet Inonu, Ataturk's right-hand man and successor, then the opposition leader, but only at an embassy reception as the government would not fix an official meeting.

Menderes and his delegation came to the reception only after Inonu had left (after the coup, Menderes was tried and hanged). Inonu had told Nehru not to trust the communists (Chinese), and sent guns to India after the 1962 Chinese invasion of India, despite Pakistani objections.

The Turks maintain that they have always been the ones to take the initiative to normalize bilateral relations with India. As part of widening foreign relations, prime minister Demirel sent his foreign minister, Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil, to India in 1968. This was basically to soften up non-aligned movement leader India's support of Archbishop Makarios on Cyprus, as Turkey's relations with Arab and other Muslim countries had not improved enough on the basis of religious and economic interests. The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) had not yet been founded to garner Muslim support against Makarios. But within a decade, India and Turkey became engrossed in their own affairs.

Ozal’s visit to India in 1986 and Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to Turkey in 1988 were like Demirel attempt in the late 1960s, to broaden and expand Turkey's political and economic relations. Since then there have been regular exchanges of high-level visits, including that of president Shankar Dayal Sharma to Turkey in 1993 and Demirel's return visit in January 1995 to India . Another important visitor in 1996 was Turkey's chief of general staff, General I H Karadayi. The military, then, along with politicians and the secular elite, form the third power center in Turkey's ruling triangle. Sanskrit- and Bengali-literate former prime minister Bulent Ecevit was invited to India during Sharma’s visit . A poet and a trade unionist, Ecevit followed the Bhagavad Gita's teachings in his political life and also translated some poems from Tagore's Geetanjali into Turkish.

It is the considered opinion of the author , who has kept a watch over Turkey for over 4 decades ,including ten years stay as a diplomat and accredited journalist ( 2 years ), after Kemal Ataturk ,the founder , stabilizer and modernizer of the secular republic of Turkey, Turgut Ozal comes third as the most important leader ,after Ismet Inonu , Ataturk’s right hand man and successor as the president of the republic .Inonu kept Turkey out of the WWII , and then helped in laying foundations of multiparty democracy in Turkey.

“To be free from all egoistic motive, careful of truth in speech and action, void of self-will and self-assertion, watchful in all things, is the condition for being a flawless servant.”Sri Aurobindo

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami was invited by Telugu Association of North America (TANA) at attend the 18th Annual Conference and delivered a powerful lecture on the current position and plight of Hindu Temples, his involvement in bringing awareness to the masses about the state government’s total control of majority of Hindu Temples, and his efforts to stop the hemorrhage of Hindu Temple money, lands and jewelry. He visited many cities, gave numerous speeches, met thousands of people and made aware of the plight of Hindu Temples caused by the passage of Endowment Act in different states. His US tour was successfully conducted making people aware of the anti-Hindu forces that are conspiring to malign the Hindu faith and destroy Hindu Temples.

Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi (HDPS) and Global Hindu Heritage Foundation (GHHF) are engaged in addressing the plight of Hindu Temples caused by the successive governments over a period of several years. They have caused enormous damage to the psyche of Hindu mind. Their policy of divide and rule as well as excessive incentives to select prominent Hindu people silenced their voice, lulled their thinking, blunted their desire to speak out and stopped their involvement in the Temple matters. GHHF and HDPS are committed to continue the fight to bring needed changes in the management of Hindu Temples and to repeal the Endowment Act.

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami, the president of HDPS (Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi) is a fearless and tireless fighter who is fighting against the Government which is looting the resources of Hindu Temples driving them to extinction in some places. He took herculean task of conducting two successful Padayatras walking 8,500 kilometers visiting thousands of villages in every district of Andhra Pradesh, bringing awareness to more than 10 million people, covered by nearly 250 media articles. Working with GHHF he brought several lawsuits against Government, he was recognized by media as a leader who openly talks about injustices inflicted on the Hindu community.

What is the Mission of GHHF and HDPS?

Global Hindu Heritage Foundation and Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi were established in 2006 with sole mission of freeing the Hindu Temples from the government control at the state and central government level. All four southern state passed Endowment Act taking over all Hindu Temples earning more than 50, 000 rupees. Most of the Northern state took over the selected, rich Temples making crores of rupees. All the decisions about the management of lands, distribution of funds, selection of the employees, salaries and promotions of these employees, appointment of Executive Officer and Board of Trustees, appointment of the priests, record keeping of jewelry, auctioning of lands, and host other areas are made by politicians. These politicians with vested interests and with an eye for vote bank politics appoint non-religious, secular and some times Christians and Muslims also.

The politicians at the State and central level do not even consult the Acharyas, Sadgurus, Peethadhpatis, Swamijis or Hindu religious scholars on many issues pertaining to the Hindu religious institutions. The people who were appointed to these positions to the most sacred places for Hindus include liquor barons, people who illegally usurped the lands of the Temples, and people with criminal records.

Hindus must get united and champion the cause of freeing the Hindu Temples from the clutches of government control. You may wonder as to why Mosques and Churches are not under control? They are united in their resolve to confront the government, change the government, and through the “rascals” out. In spite of their differences among themselves, they set aside their differences for the promotion of their religion. They take pride in being whatever religion they belong. They are not ashamed to say that they are either Christians or Muslims. What happened to these Hindus? What they cannot identify themselves as Hindus. They become so selfish in their personal interest to make money with no regard for morals and guidelines, to advance in their careers at the expense of other qualified people, to scale the political ladder to take advantage of the political power, and to please the political cronies for power, they are ready to shed their religion, sacrifice their family members, mortgage their own country, and stab their own mother and motherland. Many Hindu have become slaves. They are no more than robots who can be controlled by remote devices called crooked politicians. It is time for all the Hindus to realize the price of loosing the freedom. Once it is lost, it is list forever. That is what happened during the Islamic and British rule. Hindus have to shed their slavish mentality and should be independent thinkers thinking of their country first and their religion. Once they loose their grip over their religion, they will be like caged animals who cannot free themselves.

GHHF and HDPS are committed to champion the Hindu interests by advocating the importance of freeing the Hindu Temples from the government control; reminding the Hindus of their rich, timeless, eternal cultural heritage passed on from ages; appraising the Hindus of their time tested storehouse of literature such as Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Itihasas, Shastras and other sacred scriptures; informing the Hindus of the greatness of their Gurus, Rishis, sages, saints, and godly embodiments of their unparalleled imagination and intelligence;pronouncing the unparalleled scientific discoveries in all fields mathematics, music, algebra, chemistry, physics, statistics, medicine, metallurgy, geology, planetary system, education, and many more fields; and proclaiming the contribution in the fields of yoga, meditation, karma philosophy, reincarnation theory and others.

GHHF organized and coordinated Sri Kamal Kumar Swami’s US Tour

GHHF was proud to coordinate Sri Kamal Kumar Swamiji’s tour in USA. He traveled to eight cities and spoke at 25 different places. GHHF is grateful for all the organizations and the individuals in these cities who coordinated lecture series.Following are the cities and the places he spoke on the status of Hindu Temples and Hindu culture.

“If the Muslim Mosques and Christian Churches are not managed by the Government in India, then how come they manage (actually, control) only the Hindu Temples?” questioned Sri Kamal Kumar Swami, the President of Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, Andhra Pradesh, India.

He said that the looting of Hindu Temples in India by various Governments continues unabated.It was the blatant discrimination and injustice to Hindus that the Hindu temples are taken over and controlled by the Government, while their respective communities govern the Mosques and Churches.

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami denounced the former Chief Minister Rajashekhara Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, who was of Christian faith, for openly encouraging the conversion of Hindus to Christianity at temple premises. In order to create awareness about their Dharma among the Hindus, Kamal Kumarji has traveled 8,500 kilometers on foot visiting thousands of villages in every district of Andhra Pradesh.Working together with the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, Kamal Kumar Swami has instituted several lawsuits against the Government agencies, banned the conversions of Hindus at the temples.

Dallas on August 7, 2001

The 4th Hindu Unity day organized by SDF (Sanatana Dharma Foundation) in association with Global Hindu Heritage foundation was held at Holiday Inn Plano on 7th August 2011. This year’s unity day was named " Hindu Dharma - Burning Issues". Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Dr. Rajiv Malhotra, Sri Kamal Kumar Swami and Sri Tapan Ghosh were invited to speak on various burning issues related to the challenges faced by Hindu Religion in Modern day.

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami spoke about the threat to Hindu temples due to the Governments attempt to sell the temple lands, divert funds for non-religious purposes, to tamper with the religious rituals and customs, and neglect the proper maintenance of the Temples.He gave numerous examples of how the Ex Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was distributing the Temple land and making donations to the benefit of other religions, which resulted in the closure, and demolition of many temples.

His inspiring speech at Hindu Unity Day in Dallas can be watched on YouTube:

Our mission is to preserve, practice, propagate and protect our heritage and abolish Endowment Act and free Temples from the government control. If we have to make an impact on our movement to bring changes to preserve our culture, we need you financial support. Your generous donations to continue our efforts to free Hindu Temples from government control, awaken the Hindus about the plight of Hindu Temples and the impending danger of illegal conversion techniques are essential. We are requesting all the individuals and organizations to support financially to continue our movement to free Hindu Temples from the government control and stop these conversions.

Please DONATE. Your donations are appreciated to continue the work.

NOTE: GHHF is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue code.

A powerful and influential India is in U.S. national interests, and the two countries should collaborate more closely on all major global issues, says Robert D. Blackwill, co-chair of a new joint study report by the Council on Foreign Relations and Aspen Institute India. Blackwill, a former U.S. ambassador to India, stresses the need for coordination on Pakistan and Afghanistan. He singles out concerns over the safety ofPakistan's nuclear weapons and the importance of conditioning U.S. military aid to Pakistan on its cooperation against terrorist groupsthat target Indians and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Blackwill also points to the report's recommendation that the United States maintain a combat presence in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 deadline and its support for training of Afghan security forces by Indians, which is anathema to the Pakistani security establishment.

With such high-level strategic thinkers on both the Indian and the U.S. sides, was it easy to reach a consensus on the report?

There were good and bad parts about the participation of the strategists. The good part was all the brainpower. They're all preeminent intellectual strategists, both in India and the United States. They're strong minded, very experienced, and that was an enormous contribution to the quality of the report.

At the same time, if you have strong minded people, they don't always agree on everything, including within the delegations. I don't mean only between the Indian and American strategists, but among the Indian and among the American strategists.

What were some of the main points of divergence on which the Indians and the U.S. side had the most difficulty coming to a consensus?

The most difficult issue, and this may be amusing in some sense, was Afghanistan. But it was among the Americans. It wasn't between the Americans and the Indians, because American strategists have very strong views about the likelihood of success of the current U.S. strategy toward Afghanistan. So we had to work out, as we went through these processes, words that both the advocates of the current U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and the critics could agree to.

The Indian side on Afghanistan very much wants us to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and in the end both Indian and American strategists unanimously -- and it's one of the most important prescriptions in the report -- recommended that the United States maintain a combat presence in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 deadline.

The report believes that Pakistan may well be in systemic decline. And that makes it very hard for either the United States or India to have an effective policy.

On Pakistan, of course, every Indian thinks he or she is an expert. America has this very complex relationship with Pakistan. What I found, having looked at this issue from both the U.S. and then tried to understand how the Indians saw it, is that the United States and India today, analytically, are closer than they've ever been. There's a greater recognition on the U.S. side that India has complex problems [on] dealing with Pakistan. And there's now widespread recognition in India that there's a crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations.

We developed specific policy prescriptions, including that the United States and India should discuss in great detail, possible contingencies regarding developments in Pakistan. In that context, the report says that the [decade-old]U.S. strategy [of] using military and civilian assistance to try to persuade the Pakistan military to cease its support for terrorist groups that kill Indians and kill Americans in Afghanistan has failed.

[The report]recommends that the United States heavily condition, from now forward, military aid to Pakistan on the basis of Pakistan moving against these terrorist groups that target Americans and Indians. That's one of the most important policy prescriptions of the report.

I hope the readers who look at the report will conclude that it's analytically powerful about Pakistan, and it's almost all bad news about what's happening inside Pakistan, and that it has a series of policy prescriptions for India and the United States to deal with Pakistan. Neither the Indians nor the Americans can wave a wand and have a successful policy with Pakistan. The report believes that Pakistan may well be in systemic decline. And that makes it very hard for either the United States or India to have an effective policy.

As you mentioned, the report recommends: "The United States and India should begin classified exchanges on multiple Pakistan contingencies, including the collapse of the Pakistan state and the specter of the Pakistani military losing control of its nuclear arsenal." Could you please elaborate on this? At what level should these exchanges take place, and is there an appetite for this in the United States and in India?

That, of course, would be up to the governments. India's and America's most vital interest regarding Pakistan is the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. It now has, according to published, unclassified reports, well over a hundred nuclear weapons. Pakistan is producing more fissile material than any other country in the world every year. So if any of those weapons were to fall into the hands of terrorists, which could use them against New Delhi or Mumbai or Washington or New York, this would change the world.

The Pakistani military, in charge of being custodian of these weapons, assures the outside world that they're safe and secure. [But] if the society at large becomes more chaotic, more violent, if Islamic extremists have more influence inside the country, then one has to worry whether at some point in which the Pakistan nuclear complex has been penetrated by terrorists or Islamic extremists of other persuasion, the United States and India should be talking in a contingency way about what one country or the other might try to do in those circumstances. And what the two of them could try to do to prevent that from happening.

What the report says is that the United States should not permit Pakistan to have a de facto veto over the Indian relationship with Afghanistan.

The discussions would be at a very high level between the United States and India. They would be completely private, and of course it's difficult these days for governments to carry on any conversation that's private. It would be absolutely crucial that they remained secret; that the media didn't get a hold of them. That's possible but it would have to be done very carefully. I don't know how much appetite there is in the two capitals to do that, but we can only make our recommendations and hope that the power of our analysis will be persuasive in New Delhi and in Washington.

On Afghanistan, the report recommends: "The United States and India should discuss whether large-scale Indian training of Afghan security forces, whether in Afghanistan or in India, would be beneficial." Given Pakistan's expected reactions and Washington's current strategy which articulates Pakistan as an important ally in this war, how do you propose this would ever happen?

After 9/11, when I was the U.S. ambassador to India, [then] Indian government volunteered to train Afghan military forces after the overthrow of the Taliban. Whether the Indian government would be willing to do it now is a matter for the Indian government to decide.

What the report says is that the United States should not permit Pakistan to have a de facto veto over the Indian relationship with Afghanistan. We shouldn't excite the Pakistani concerns unnecessarily, but we shouldn't allow those concerns to veto Indian involvement in Afghanistan. [India] gives billions of dollars of aid to Afghanistan, and now [it] might be [able] to train at least some portion of the Afghan national army. The advantages it would have over, for example, American or German or British trainers is they're from the region. The Indians have people who speak those languages, who understand those cultures, who understand the history. And so there's no doubt that if India were to do this, it would have some comparative advantages in training over at least some other trainers that are involved in this from other countries.

One would have to take into account the Pakistan reaction. And the report says that should be assessed very carefully and then a decision should be made. But that idea, the report says, should not be ruled out prima facie simply because Pakistan wouldn't like it.

From the U.S. perspective, India at times seems trapped dealing with volatile internal politics and domestic priorities, impeding its readiness to assume greater responsibilities that come with its emerging power status. Plus India's position and its voting pattern at the UN have sometimes caused concerns in Washington. What is your view on how India would tackle this going forward and how the United States might be able to help?

No American should complain today about India's preoccupation with its domestic problems. But you put your finger on something that is addressed in the report: India taking more and more international responsibility.

The report begins with three convictions: A more powerful India is deeply in American national interest; an America which maintains its power and influence in Asia and beyond is deeply in India's interest; and the closest possible collaboration between the two governments is good for both governments.

In that context this report says the United States would like India to assume more international responsibility consistent with the rise of India as a great power [but that] doesn't mean we won't disagree about some things. And the report enumerates various areas in which we don't have perfect agreement, for example what to do about the Iranian nuclear program.

But the history of America's relations with its closest allies, the British, the French, is replete with examples of disagreements. So the United States, as it urges India to take more responsibility, understands that inevitably we're going to have some disagreements. But that an India that assumes more of this international role over the longer term on the major issues from the rise of Chinese power to nonproliferation to international terrorism to climate change, is deeply in America's interest.

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The head of Switzerland’s third-largest bank urges politicians not to over-regulate the banking sector in the wake of the financial crisis.

Pierin Vincenz, who hopes centre-right parties will do well in the October 23 parliamentary elections, calls for a pragmatic approach in implementing international standards on bank customer confidentiality.

He says stability is key for to maintain the image of Swiss banks which has suffered over the past few years.

“One thing that makes Switzerland very attractive is our political stability. Compared with other countries, Switzerland is in a very good position. I expect that this stability will be maintained, even if there are slight shifts,”hetold swissinfo.ch.

He says hisRaiffeisenGroup, which plays an important role in financing home purchases, is directlyaffected by decisions ofparliament.

Chief executive Vincenz has a wish list for the newparliament.

“Of course we areinterested in over-regulation being stopped. After the financial crisis, we are in a difficult situation. If all companiesare subject to the new rules, those who are in a good position and were successful even during the financial crisis will face strictregulations too.”

Promote women

He saysthe new parliament must continue to guarantee entrepreneurial freedom in Switzerland.

“Parliament also needs to create a framework which guarantees more success in getting important jobs in business filled by women to promote , Further, in family policy, particularly as regards the advancement,” said Vincenz.

He hopes that the political forces as they are currently represented in parliament remain more or less the same.

“I am assuming that the green parties will gain a bit because of current developments. But I hope that the centre-right parties will still make a good showing.”

The image of bankers has suffered badly since the financial crisis hit. There is talk about “rip-off salaries”, arrogance, criminal energy and above all about inability to learn. Does the Raiffeisen CEO understand this feeling in the public at large?

“The bad image is justified to some extent. But it does not apply to all banks, and not to all bankers. Here in Switzerland we have a large number of bank staff who take their responsibilities seriously.”

Willing

Vincenz says it us up to every economic leader to support measures which will prevent the banking sector ever again getting into such a difficult situation.

“Take the issue of excessive pay and bonuses,” he explained stressing the need to stick to certain rules of the game and to show the willingness to do something.

“The vote on the initiative on excessive manager salaries will show that this demand is very popular. One could make a counter-proposal, to bite the bullet and bring in a bonus tax.”

Vincenz evokes the alternative business model of the Raiffeisen banks. “We are organised on a cooperative basis. We feel the responsibility to take an active role in regions and communities.”

While the measures proposed by the government to tackle the issue of higher capital requirements for banks are being sharply criticised, especially by the leading UBS bank, and even accompanied by threats to pull out of Switzerland, the Raiffeisen CEO finds the government proposals appropriate.

”It is right that the banks should need to have enough capital of their own. We can’t get into a situation any more where the banks have to be bailed out by the government,” Vincenz said.

Pragmatism

The Raiffeisen banks too are now being called upon to have more resources of their own. “That is not a big problem for us because we plough our profits back into the business. And that means we have more resources at our disposal.”

Vincenz calls for a practical approach in countering international pressure on banking secrecy and tax dodgers, saying Switzerland should adopt the international standards and implement them pragmatically.

“But everything to do with confidentiality and mutual cooperation must match our Swiss standards and we can’t just give these things up to get a deal with other countries.”

Vincenz sees no need to amend banking secrecy rules for the domestic market.

“Switzerland already has mechanisms to take action against tax fraud, but also in serious cases of tax evasion. Protection of privacy – and the bank customer’s privacy belongs here – must remain an important factor in the Switzerland of the future.”

Mortgages

Raiffeisen is heavily involved in the mortgage market in Switzerland. Vincenz is not afraid of excessive risks or a “property bubble”, which Swiss National Bank chief Philipp Hildebrand warned against.

“In some regions, in Zurich and around Lake Geneva, there is certainly a price explosion in the property market.

“But in numerous other regions the increase is moderate. Still is a fact that the demand for residential property is strong, because of low interest rates and inward migration but also people’s general wish to own their own home.”

Vincenz pledges that Raiffeisenwill retain their“very responsible mortgage lending policies” although the market share in the cities is still small. “But we are very careful here”.

Jean-Michel Berthoud, swissinfo.ch(Adapted from German by Terence MacNamee)

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